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Tuesday, January 01, 2008

What do you order at StarBucks?

Every time I got to a star bucks- be it at my local strip mall or at the Maryland House on I95 I feel like I speak "ordinary" . I don't order "tall venti, skim, mocha, espresso 2 shot splenda.. what ever". I just say " a regular coffee small please", I can swear that I get smile every time from the StarBucks person.

My question is ?

What do you order?Do you know of any websites that have chronicled "StarBucks Speak" or "drink codes"

Please comment so we ordinary mortals can be enlightened.

Thanks

Update :

Some great people shared their insights by commenting here. Just wanted to post useful info from Twitter too.

41 comments:

www.conniebensen.com
said...

Hey Shashi,Well, I don't drink coffee & was 'forced' to indulge when I offered to walk with my President to Starbucks in Victoria, BC. (It was the company - he's quite the visionary!) So then after one, I am hooked on the caramel cider spice. I hope they don't take it away now after the holidays though!

Then I'll have to find some new calorie packed goodness to enjoy.

My hubby orders a tall vanilla latte - but he likes it sweet, so he asks for 12 EXTRA pumps of vanilla. (It takes awhile for them to get it to taste - so he counted & now knows). Can you tell we're from Minnesota?! *grin* BUT, we can get starbucks in ND, so all is well - it's an hour away & a treat.

I order a "tall mocha no whipped" because I like chocolate in the coffee and I'm not a whipped cream person.

Even in non-summer months I've been known to insert the term *frap* after mocha, so they'll throw this in the blender with ice. For someone who likes the coffee taste but doesn't want 100% caffeine - or likes an iced drink - this gives me all the flavor with a little icy crunch too.

Comeon - try it - oh and use a starbucks card while you're at it to give you an extra shot of 'belonging'. I'll bet you feel like an insider soon!

There are two Starbucks in my building at work, at least 6 within a 2 block radius. So, it is pretty difficult not to give in to the gravitational pull.

My once a week treat is a personal grande nonfat caramel macchiato. It has to be a grande (second largest size) or the proportion of vanilla syrup and espresso shots is not quite right.

Personal = I bring my own cup. Which everyone should try doing. ;-) You even get a small discount for not using one of their paper cups.

I find in Canada the Starbucks call it "nonfat" milk (most of us civilians call it skim milk) but outside of Canada many of the Starbucks stores don't know what "nonfat" means. I don't know why they started different starbuckspeak here.

I'm a bit of a coffee snob, so I only order from Starbucks if they have certain blends brewing. (Can't stand their house blend!)

I have my own ceramic Starbucks mug, so I always get that filled with my roast of choice. On the days I forget it, I usually just get a short. (Short is a size that's not on the Starbucks menu, but you can get it if you ask for it.)

So my standard order?

When I have my mug:"Sumatra roast, filled to the top please."

No mug:"Short Verona filled to the top please."

(Replace Verona or Sumatra with Sidamo or Kenyan AA if you wish -- I'm a fan of all four.)

Weekdays: tall decaf with Lactaid at the bar and bring my mug (personal). Fortunately, I work in a building with a Starbucks so it's easy to bring my own mug. Sometimes I'll ask for a pump of sugar-free vanilla.

I am a coffee snob, but I also don't like to get so many calories from my coffee. I order whatever the tastiest coffee of the day is, black: "Tall breakfast blend, no room." (so they'll fill it to the top and I get the most bang for my, uh, Starbuck.) Sometimes I order a small non-fat latte if I'm feeling creamy--but I'm not really sure what's in it! :)

I usually get either a tall coffee or a venti black iced tea unsweetened, but my wife's order is a little more esoteric. She's prepared a card with the drink codes that she flashes at the barista. Usually they understand it.

My order sounds pretty boring compared to everyone else... grande skim sugar-free vanilla latte -- into which I put at least 3 Splendas or Equals... I have a quite a sweet tooth. Then, of course, I have to get two chocolate milks for my kids.

Sidenote -- I was out the other day and had a cup from Starbucks (sorry, no personal cup)... and a 4-year old boy next to us with his father said he gets coffee at Starbucks... to which his father added -- "he gets decaf." Are 4 year olds drinking coffee now?

I always feel like an idiot when I have to order something at Starbucks and the wiki article confirms it. My normal thing at Starbucks is a tall or grande cappucino to which I add nothing. Recently, however, I've been drinking the seasonal lattes (i.e. Pumpkin Spice for November and Gingerbread for December).

I'm not really a coffee drinker, but now that they have the sugar free syrups, I will have a SF cinnamon dolce latte or a gingerbread latte. Can't wait to try the new SF mocha syrup -- will that make drinks chocolatety without sugar?

It usually depends on the season, and my mood. Lately it's a quad venti eggnog chai latte. I've also heard this called a "dirty" eggnog chai latte, but about 50% of baristas/cashiers look at me funny when I order this at all, so I try not to complicate it with more slang.

I'm one of the very few people who has never spent a single dollar at Starbucks. Granted, I'm not a coffee drinker (green tea is my poison). Even if I did drink coffee, I'd choose not to spend that exorbitant price for a drink. I'd save my money and support local business by going to a corner coffee shop instead.

As a former New Yorker, I was accustomer to ordering coffee using the unique local lingo. Example: "coffee regular" gets you milk and 2 sugars, "light and sweet" gets you extra milk and extra sugar. So it was only a minor adjustment to learn a new coffee language when I started going to Starbucks!

Hi there,The only coffee I have is Starbucks and it is mostly a holiday and a weekend ritual :)I used to feel sorry for the person taking my order earlier, and felt shy initially, but since I learnt lot of people do that, I don't hesitate anymore. I order a non-fat, 2 pump sugarfree, skimmed, extra hot, Hazelnut Latte. It is Yummmmmmmy......

When I drink coffee it is a 'Caramel Macchiato Extra Caramel Upside Down'. The upside down means that they put the espresso and caramel on the bottom and then add the frothed milk on top. The extra caramel usually goes on top. Did you know that Caramel Macchiatos actually have vanilla squirt in them and caramel drizzle on top.

When I am not drinking coffee my drink of choice is a 'Chai Tea Latte with Caramel Drizzle'. It is important to say latte here or they hand you a cup of hot water and a chai tea bag. The caramel drizzle makes it even sweeter than it is to begin with but enhances the flavor. Be sure not to get the caramel squirt which doesn't do anything for the flavor IMO (in my opinion).

Favorite summer/cold drink is a 'Carmel Frap Lite Ice Extra Caramel' which is pretty self explanatory. The lite ice makes it less thick and a bit easier to drink through the straw and frap is short for Frappuccino which is a blended word made from joining frappe, a Boston term for milkshake, and cappuccino, a coffee drink with a milky topping. By now I am sure that you have noticed the extra caramel theme throughout - love that caramel.

i've tried starbucks one, a "regular" done the way i like: a little coffee with my cream and sugar. i found it simply not drinkable: too strong, like drinking coffee concentrate! i will not repeat that experience. i know about 60% of our population have no "bitter" tastebuds on their tongues. to them, SB must be wonderful. the rest of us do not count ourselves among the SB "elites" who live in the stores. i'll stick to my one cup a day of maxwell house with lots of...

Well, I just found a new drink and haven't begun deviating from the way it's listed on the menu - a grande Carmel Apple Spice.

But my usuals are an Iced Grande Soy Chai or a Iced Grande Carmel Macchiato with extra carmel and depending on which Starbucks you go to and how long the barista's been there I ask for it to be stirred up or upside down.

On hot Texas afternoons for a treat I order a Strawberry Frappacinno with Whip. Yum!

I usually just ask for a "tall coffee" - eventually I succumbed to the lingo and started calling it a "tall" instead of "small".

One day, I ventured across the street to Panera bread for a coffee instead of the usual Starbucks. I checked the menu and sure enough they have a similar way of naming the coffee sizes. When I went to order, the manager stepped in because they were getting behind. I ordered a "tall" coffee. He got confused and had no idea what I meant. I pointed out the menu behind him and explained that his establishment called the small cups "tall". He seemed flustered and quickly moved on to the next customer. I wanted to rub it in a bit, but he was having nothing of it.

Venti Americano with room (4 Splendas and room if I'm ordering in Wheaton, where they're still keeping the Splenda behind the counter). I get the same order iced with one pump of coconut when it's warm out. If I'm feeling crazy, venti sugar free vanilla organic latte.

I go Venti on everything. It's either a hot or iced sugar free vanilla latte. Unsweetened black iced tea with no water. And every so often I will get a vanilla bean frap with a banana. http://clubstarbucks.blogspot.com/